Race Report: TCS New York City Marathon Training Series 12M

Date: August 11; 7:00 am 

Distance: 12mi/19.2km

Place: Central Park, NY, NY

Weather: 71 F

Finishers: 4,536 (2,396 Men/2,140 Women) 

Offical time / pace: 2:07:33 / 10:37min/mi

With my slow ass. Anyway.

This is the second of three training runs that NYRR sponsors in preparation for the TCS NYC Marathon. Technically, we are 12 weeks away from NYC’s marathon. Umm, yea! I guess?

This training run allows one to run two full loops around Central Park, starting off with the tough Harlem Hills.

I find the run challenging in a good way because you do not have much time/distance to recover in between hills.

Although this “race” was 12 miles, my training plan called for 14 miles for this week’s long run so I ran two miles before the race. For the most part, I felt pretty strong until about mile 8 of the run (or 10 total miles).

Once again, I was BSing in the apt before the race so I ended up starting with the last corral, which was not too much of a biggie because I was not trying to get a PR. Living close the a race’s start is a blessing and a curse. However, I got off to a really slow start because I had to move around A LOT of people during the first three miles. Actually, I found it quite frustrating to weave around people, so I kind of gave up. But, it was my own fault getting to Central Park late and having to start with last corral. Perhaps, it would have been better to run my extra two miles after the twelve miles.

Once I hit Mile 8, I really started to lose steam. I do not think that I ate enough before or during the run. Come to think of it, the Gatorade at all of the fluid stations was really watered down for this race. Going forward, I really have to start noting how early I need to wake and how much I need to eat. I believe that my body’s digestive abilities have changed a bit since last year. This may be a little TMI, but I find that I have to take TWO poops, typically 30 – 45 minutes apart every morning. Depending on what I have eaten, I usually have to poop again before starting the run. Pretty much three poops within a 1.5 hr time span. Because of my double, sometimes triple, poops, I have to wake up even earlier to prepare breakfast and make sure I clear out my system so to speak.

Eh, I don’t feel like typing anymore.

Liquid carbs for a post 14-mile run

Upcoming races: 

• Oct. 5th; NYRR Grete’s Great Gallop (10K)
• Nov. 3rd: 2019 TCS New York City Marathon

I  probably should register for one more race so the NYC Marathon will not count as one of my 9+1 races.